On the Production of Gastric Tumors, Bordering on Malignancy, in Javanese Monkeys through the Agency of Nochtia Nochti, a Parasitic Nematode

Abstract

The discovery by Fibiger (1913) that development of a carcinoma in the forestomach of the rat could be initiated by the presence of a parasitic nematode, Gongylonema neoplasticum , was the first demonstration of the possibility of producing an autochthonous malignant tumor in a laboratory animal. This demonstration evoked considerable interest among cancer workers for, at least in part, it appeared to substantiate some of the old and largely discounted theories of the parasitic etiology of certain types of cancer. Subsequently the attention of many students of the problem has been directed to the carcinogenic potentialities of other parasitic worms. As a result, in the past quarter of a century numerous species of helminths, belonging to such diverse groups as the Trematoda, Cestoda and Nematoda, parasitic upon various organs and tissues of different animals, including man, have been found capable of playing a more or less direct role in inducing the formation of neoplasms, some of malignant character. The literature on parasites and tumor growth has been recently reviewed in a comprehensive manner by Hoeppli (1) who, in discussing the mechanism that may underlie the development of tumors of helminth origin, points out that there is not only a host and tissue specificity for the parasite, but that marked differences exist also in the disposition of various strains—and even individuals—of a species of host to react to the parasite9s presence by the production of malignant neoplasms.